Europe

MADRID/KYIV, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A security officer at Ukraine's embassy in Madrid was injured when he opened a letter bomb addressed to the ambassador on Wednesday, and Kyiv ordered a bolstering of security at all its representative offices abroad.

The security officer suffered light injuries and went under his own steam to hospital for treatment, Spanish government official Mercedes Gonzalez told broadcaster Telemadrid.

LONDON, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A member of the British royal family's household has left her role after making "unacceptable and deeply regrettable" comments about race and nationality to a woman at a grand reception at Buckingham Palace, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Ngozi Fulani, who was born in Britain and works for a domestic abuse support group, wrote on Twitter that the royal aide had repeatedly asked her: "What part of Africa are you from?" when she attended an event hosted by King Charles's wife Camilla, the queen consort, on Tuesday.

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Russia will pay special attention to building infrastructure for its nuclear forces in 2023, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.

Shoigu said in televised comments that the Russia would also work to improve the combat capabilities of its missile forces and that facilities were being built to accommodate new missile systems. Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, with close to 6,000 warheads.

MOSCOW, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Russia will "pay special attention" to the construction of major facilities in 2023 for the country's strategic nuclear forces, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.

Currently, the construction of infrastructural facilities is underway in five formations of the Russian Strategic Missile Force in order to deploy new missile systems, Shoigu said at a meeting with the country's senior defense officials.

BRUSSELS, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a plan to confiscate frozen Russian assets to compensate Ukraine for its damages caused by the conflict.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that the frozen funds would go to Ukraine "to compensate for the damages caused to the country", already estimated at around 600 billion euros (621 billion U.S. dollars).

"We have blocked 300 billion euros of the Russian Central Bank reserves and we have frozen 19 billion euros of Russian oligarchs' money," she said.

BRUSSELS, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Yearly inflation in the Eurozone went down from 10.6 percent in October to 10 percent in November, thanks to lower energy prices, according to a flash estimate published on Wednesday by Eurostat.

This is mostly driven by the decreasing prices of energy, said the Eurostat. Year-on-year price increase for energy is estimated at 34.9 percent in November, compared to 41.5 percent in October.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union proposed Wednesday to set up a U.N.-backed specialized court to investigate possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, and to use frozen Russian assets to rebuild the war-torn country.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a video message that the EU will work with international partners to get “the broadest international support possible” for the tribunal, while continuing to support the work of the International Criminal Court.

MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/: Head of the Russian Accounts Chamber Alexey Kudrin has tendered his resignation from the post of the head of the supervisory agency to the Russian President.

After public service he would like to focus on large projects connected with the development of private initiatives, Kudrin wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/: The Tupolev Aircraft Company (part of the United Aircraft Corporation, UAC) has delivered the next Tu-22M3 bomber to the Russian Aerospace Forces after repairs under the defense procurement plan, the UAC press office said on its Telegram channel on Tuesday.

"The Tupolev Aircraft Company has delivered the latest Tu-22M3 missile-carrying bomber to long-range aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces for operation after repairs under the defense procurement plan," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/: Russia and China are working on a reciprocal opening of company accounts to avoid the use of SWIFT, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday. He was speaking at the 4th Russian-Chinese Energy Business Forum.

Novak recalled that payments under contracts for gas supplies from Russia to China are already switching to the national currencies of the two countries. Besides that, settlements for supplies of oil, petroleum products and coal are being actively transferred in rubles and yuan, he added.